Valente & Young Earn First Individual Elite Titles of Track Nationals

By: Tom Mahoney July 05, 2019

Jastrab & Ta-Perez, McDonald & Oelrich earn madison titles.

Day three of the 2019 USA Cycling Junior, Elite, & Para-cycling National Championships awarded eight Stars-and-Stripes jerseys on the Fourth of July. Titles were awarded in the first elite events of the event for team pursuit, team sprint, and scratch race. Junior titles were awarded for the men and women’s madison.

Elite Scratch Races

Defending champion, world title holder in the team pursuit, and all-around track phenom Jennifer Valente (San Diego; Sho-Air TWENTY20) would take top step of the podium again in the Elite Women’s Scratch Race. Valente raced a defensive race, covering any attack from the field. Kendall Ryan (Ventura, Calif.; Team TIBCO – Silicon Valley Bank) would take second in the field sprint, and the second step of the podium. Junior virtuoso Megan Jastrab (Apple Valley, Calif.; Rally Sport Cycling) would take the bronze.

For the Elite Men’s Scratch Race, it would be Eric Young (Boulder, Colo.; Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling) would win after he and four other races lapped the field midway through the race.

“It was awesome, it was super fun. The last time I did track nationals was in 2010, I think, when I was an amateur. I raced the scratch then and did not get first, so it’s fun. I’ve been wanting to come to Track Nationals for a while, but because of road [team] commitments, I haven’t been able to. Today’s was super awesome and a great start to the week. It’s going to be a super fun week”, Young said about his win.

Colby Lange (Edwards, Colo.; Wildlife Generation p/b Maxxis) and Danny Summerhill (Centennial, Colo.; Texas Roadhouse Cycling Team) were among the four riders with Young when he lapped the field. They would place second and third respectively.

Junior Madisons

Jastrab would partner with Zoe Ta-Perez (Orange, Calif.; LUX Cycling Team) for the Junior Women’s Madison event. Together they would work to lap the field and earn a total of 47 points to defend their title in this event. Melton 20, the team of Olivia Cummins (Ft. Collins, Colo.; Melton Design Build/Cari Higgins Real Estate Cycling Team) and Makayla MacPherson (Corona, Calif.; Sho-Air TWENTY20 Development) gave Jastrab and Ta-Perez a run for their money, winning all but two of the sprints for points. They would earn 29 points and the silver medal. The last step of the podium would go to Paula Che (Torrance, Calif.; iCademy) and Chloe Patrick (Carson, Calif.; Team Velosport Junior & U23 Development - Rock n Road Cyclery).

It was a close race between three teams in the Junior Men’s Madison event. Members of Wednesday’s Junior Men Team Pursuit winning squad, Ian Oelrich (San Diego, Calif.; Team Velosport Junior & U23 Development Rock N Road Cyclery), & Brody McDonald (Escondido, Calif.; Team Velosport Junior & U23 Development Rock N Road Cyclery) would partner together again for the event. After doing an exchange with less than a half lap to go, they would win the final sprint and secure their title. Alexander Wulfgang Lochmiller (Poway, Calif.; Team Velosport Junior & U23 Development Rock N Road Cyclery) and Eddy Huntsman (Newport Beach, Calif.; iCademy) would partner together and take an early lead in the event, losing it in the final sprint, but would take home the silver medal. To round out the podium, the team of Peter Moore (St. Paul, Minn.; Donkey Label Racing) and Billy Taylor (New York, N.Y.; Star Track Racing) would fight back from an early flat tire for Taylor to take home bronze.

Elite Team Pursuit

The Elite Women’s Team Pursuit would be ridden with a qualifying and final, and Team Whatsitsname, comprised of Kate Wilson (Los Angeles; iCademy), Danielle Morshead (San Anselmo, Calif.), Hayley Bates (Long Beach, Calif.; Levine Law Group Elite Cycling Team), and Jessica Chong (Allentown, Pa.; Mathletes Racing), would win the Stars-and-Stripes jerseys. The team posted a 5:01.635 in qualifying, making them the top seeded team, and then won the title by over taking the team of Acute Pursuit in the final. Acute Pursuit, the team of Sarah Munoz (Redondo Beach, Calif.), Elise Traylor (San Pedro, Calif.; South Bay Wheelmen Foundation), Charlene Yarnall (San Clemente, Calif.; Veloce Santiago), Karlene Rahn (Mira Loma, Calif.; Veloce Santiago), would take home silver.

Team Chicharrones, Ashton Lambie (Lincoln, Neb.; HUUB Wattbike), Shane Kline (Bally, Pa.), Grant Koontz (Spring, Texas), and Lange would put in two impressive times in their rounds of the Elite Men’s Team Pursuit, which would be good enough to get them the gold medal. They would set the fastest time of the day for the event with a 4:03.946 in their final ride. Not going down without a fight the Texas Roadhouse Cycling Team, John Croom (Rock Hill, SC), Adrian Hegyvary (Asheville, N.C.), Daniel Holloway (Boulder, Colo.), and Summerhill would place second with a time of 4:08.307.

Elite Team Sprint

The Star Track Racing team of Sophia Shuhay (New Tripoli, Pa.) and Madalyn Godby (Louisville, Colo.) would sped to the Elite Women’s Team Sprint title. They would be the only team in the competition to post a sub 35-second time, with a 34.789 and a 34.858. The team of Kayla Hankins (Scottsdale, Ariz.; LUX Cycling Team) and Keely Kortman (Tustin, Calif.; Performance Cycle Coaching) would take second with their finals time of 36.536.

The Elite Men’s Team Sprint title would be decided by less than half a second in the final, with the team of Evan Boone (Sierra Vista, Ariz.), Peter Bock (Muskego, Wisc.; Star Track Racing), and Sandor Delgado (Hialeah, Fla.) posting a 46.430 and earning the top step of the podium. Posting a 46.893, the team of Joe Christiansen (Lyons, Colo.; Star Track Racing), James Mellen (Schnecksville, Pa.; Edge Cycling), and Dominic Suozzi (Colorado Springs, Colo.; Star Track Racing) would earn silver.

11-14 Omniums

In the 11-12 Juniors Vanessa Jaramillo (Colorado Springs, Colo.; Front Rangers Junior Cycling) would win the first of three events for the women, giving her the early lead in the 11-12 Women’s Omnium. Enzo Edmonds (Brooklyn, N.Y.; Star Track Racing), the 11-12 criterium champion in Hagerstown, Md., went on to add another gold to his collection, by taking the 11-12 men’s scratch race. Like Jaramillo, he now leads the men’s omnium.

T-town phenom, Divya Verma (Breinigsville, Pa.; Edge Cycling) won the 13-14 Women’s Scratch Race, which put her into a tie with Katie Smock (Indianapolis, Ind.; Midwest Devo) for the 13-14 Women’s Omnium. Both riders have 3 points. Connell Alord (Chelsea, Mich.; American Cycling League – Detroit) won the 13-14 Men’s Scratch Race, which would put him into third for the overall omnium standings. Johnny Rhodes Delbridge (East Point, Ga.; North Georgia Cycling Assoc.) currently leads the 13-14 Men’s Omnium going into the final event tonight with 6 points.

Friday’s schedule features elite sprints & international omnium, and the continuation of the younger junior omniums.

Recognized by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee and the Union Cycliste Internationale, USA Cycling is the official governing body for all disciplines of competitive cycling in the United States, including BMX, cyclocross, mountain bike, road and track.